CenturyLink confirmed its $34 billion purchase of Level 3 Communications this morning, a move that will create arguably the third largest domestic enterprise service player and threaten AT&T and Verizon – two providers that have enjoyed their stance as dominant global enterprise service players for decades.

Money quote:

A key value of the combined companies is the sizeable amount of fiber assets that both bring to the table. Each company has a large roster of long-haul, metro and last mile fiber facilities connected to buildings and major data centers.